How long does it take to recite the names of every person who died on September 11, 2001 as a result of four planes and their destructive destinations that day. It takes over four hours to recite the 2996 names of every one that died that day in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Every year for the last twenty one years, this day has become a day when I stop and find a way to honour and remember. 9/11 has become my Remembrance Day. I was not alive during the WW2. I cannot remember something that happened before I was born. But I remember that day in September 2001. I wasn't there, I knew none of those who died. But I remembered that day and I find ways to remember every year the anniversary comes around.
One year I read a book written by one of the widows of that day. Some years I write poems. Today I am listening to the grievers of the lost recite the names that are carved in the perimeter of the pools that mark the place where the World Trade Center Towers once stood. I won't get through the whole video today, but I will listen to it until I have heard every name. Some names sink in more than others, but they all get a chance to imprint themselves in my cranium. I hope it's true that the brain never forgets the data that it takes in. Then those names can have a place in my head for the rest of my life.
The video is long, but not boring. The cameras take you from the speakers to the memorial pools where you can see some of those names. The flowers are fresh today. The speakers that inspire me the most are the young children who never met the people they mourn. Some are named after their aunts, uncles, grandparents. It is beautiful to see how people's legacy of love extends to people not existing in their time line.
I wonder how long we will remember. How long will I remember? It's been twenty-one years. Will I stop remembering one day. I don't know. But this year, I am still remembering.
"No day shall erase you from the memory of time."
Oleh D. Wengerchuk's sister reciting a quote at the 9/11 museum.
No comments:
Post a Comment